Gas turbine engines, such as those utilized in commercial and military aircraft, include a compressor that compresses air, a combustor that mixes the compressed air with a fuel and ignites the mixture, and a turbine that expands the resultant gases from the combustion. The expansion of the gases through the turbine drives rotors within the turbine (referred to as turbine rotors) to rotate. The turbine rotors are connected to a shaft that is connected to rotors within the compressor (referred to as compressor rotors), thereby driving the compressor rotors to rotate.
In some gas turbine engines, or sections of some gas turbine engines, the rotors are exposed to significant temperatures. For example, in turbine sections, the resultant gases from the combustion process expose the turbine disks and, particularly, the rim portions of the turbine disks, to highly elevated temperatures. Combined with repeated acceleration and deceleration associated with normal operation, the disks may experience low cycle fatigue or thermal mechanical fatigue. Discontinuities in disk geometries may exacerbate the onset of such fatigue.